


The Danvers Family

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: If I stay [9]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019)
Genre: Carol is making peace with her mother, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Sad and Happy, a few years after the movie, prepare your tissues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 06:36:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18132236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: It's time for a Danvers-Rambeau family trip. And what better way to start a family trip than by driving on the other side of the country to go see Carol's mother whom she hasn't talked to in decades and who still think she's dead?





	The Danvers Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! My last Captain Marvel fanfiction for the day! I have received so many happy comments on the two previous stories that it's making me kind of nervous. I really don't want to disappoint. This one isn't as funny but it's full of good feels too, especially if I didn't mess it up! We'll see. It's partially based on "Life of Captain Marvel", especially when it comes to the Danvers house.  
> I'll try for at least one more story tomorrow, two if I can. This AU has so much potential! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one too!

They arrived at Harpswell, Maine, late into the night. They'd left home two days ago to drive north, stopping to sleep at Charlotte the preview night. Carol knew she should have been tired. Logically, she should have. They'd driven through the entire country in less than two days, and she'd done most of the driving herself. But she wasn't tired. She was nervous, jittery even. Both Maria and Monica had been asleep for a few hours already. Maria was bundled up on the passenger seat, facing Carol. Monica was laying on the entire backseat, an old folded blanket used as her pillow.

  
Carol parked into the motel parking lot and expelled the tape from the auto-radio. It had stopped playing a while back but she'd been so focused on the road she hadn't tried to reverse it. She turned off the ignition and let out a long sigh. Beside her, neither Maria nor Monica had woken up. She felt kind of bad for waking them up. She looked at Maria hesitantly. Finally, she decided she would carry them to the room herself.

  
She exited the car and walked to the reception, hands deep in her jacket pocket. Even in July, nights in Maine were fresh. She pulled the windowed door open and stepped inside. Behind the reception desk, a tired man was leaning back in his old chair, feet on the desk, reading an old magazine. When the bell at the door rang, he flipped his page then threw the magazine on the desk, and lowered his feet.

  
"Good evening," she said politely. "I have a reservation."

  
He nodded and opened a massive keeping book with notes sticking out of every few pages.

  
"Name?"

  
She frowned. Maria had told her she'd reserved but she wasn't sure under which name.

  
"Hum... Rambeau?"

  
He looked down at the book, then back at her. After checking the notebook once again, he picked up a nearby pencil and scratched something on the list of names. Then, he stood up and picked up a key from the wall of hooks behind him.

  
"Two double beds, three nights?"

  
Carol shrugged. She assumed it must have been it.

  
"We might not stay all three nights," she declared.

  
He picked up a bunched of papers which he placed on the reception desk with the key. Tourists maps and the likes, Carol noticed.

  
"Can't fault you, but you'll still have to pay for the three nights."

  
The more Carol thought about it, the more she was willing to pay double if it meant they could leave as soon as possible. She picked up everything on the desk.

  
"Room 308, second floor, stairs to your right. Have a nice stay."

  
She nodded and walked out. She returned to the car, only to find Maria standing beside it and stretching.

  
"I didn't want to wake you up," she explained.

  
Maria yawned and rounded the car to take everything out of Carol's hands.

  
"You should have."

  
Carol opened the back-door to carry Monica out, but before she could bend forward, Maria placed a hand on her arm.

  
"You okay?"

  
Carol shrugged. She'd been better. She was in a place she really didn't want to, but at least she wasn't alone.

  
"I'll feel better once this whole mess is over."

  
She picked up Monica out of the car with ease, and the teenager didn't even stir. She was very much deep in sleep, and would probably wonder how she'd end up in a bed the next morning.

  
Maria picked up both of their travel bags from the trunk and followed Carol up the two flights of stairs. She unlocked the door, letting Carol pass through first. She didn't turn on the main light, only the bathroom light at first. Carol place Monica on the nearest bed and the teenager curled on her side, still perfectly asleep.

  
"She's going to be so confused tomorrow," Carol whispered.

  
Maria came to hug her girlfriend from behind, holding her close.

  
"We don't have to go see her tomorrow," she declared.

  
Carol placed her arms over Maria's.

  
"There's really nothing to do here, trust me. No, we'll go see my mom tomorrow, and when she inevitably sends us away we can just go to Boston. It's better to rip the bandage quickly."

  
They hugged silently for a good minute before Maria declared:

  
"Come on, let's get some sleep."

  
They were both too tired to change into their pajamas. They only took off their shoes and slid in the second bed. Carol came to hug Maria, who held her back. Carol closed her eyes and hoped sleep would come soon.

* * *

  
  
Carol stiffened a yawn. They were in the local donut shop taking breakfast, the three of them seated in a booth by the window. Carol hadn't been able to sleep at all, her nerves getting the better of her. When the sun had gotten up, she'd left the room and gone running around the town, which was how she'd found out that the old donut shop was still open.

  
"Can I take a coffee?" Monica asked as she inspected the menu.

  
"Depends," Maria replied. "Are you going to drink it?"

  
"If she doesn't I will," Carol replied.

  
Maria shook her head.

  
"You seriously don't need more coffee in your system. You're jittery enough already."

  
"Yeah, well I have a good reason to be jittery."

  
Maria gave her that look that made Carol want to face-palm herself for talking.

  
"Sorry. No coffee for me," she agreed.

  
Maria smiled at her sympathetically.

  
"I know you haven't seen her in a long time, but I'm sure there's no reason to be nervous."

  
"Beside the fact that she thinks you died almost ten years ago," Monica completed.

  
Maria glared at her daughter.

  
"What? It's true. And even if she doesn't want you anymore, you'll always have us," the teenager added with a smile.

  
It made Carol and Maria smile as well.

  
A man wearing an orange apron came to stand beside their table, with a little pen and notepad in his hands.

  
"Are you guys ready to order?"

  
He looked down from his notepad at them and frowned. He looked at the three of them, but more particularly at Carol. Carol looked at him longly. He was familiar. Only when she saw his name tag did she recognize him. Louis.

  
"Is there a problem?" Maria asked.

  
"Hum, no, of course not. So, what can I get you?"

  
They ordered quickly. Louis glanced one last time at Carol before disappearing in the kitchen.

  
"You know him?" Maria asked.

  
"I knew him. His dad was friends with my uncle. Didn't think he would work here."

  
"You think he knows?"

  
Carol shrugged.

  
"Doesn't matter. My death certificate was annulled remember?"

* * *

  
Carol tried to drag their breakfast as much as possible, but there was only so many donuts she could eat before even she had to give up. They paid and went to the car.  
"You ready?" Maria asked.

  
Carol took in a deep breath. The air was warm and salty. It was all too familiar, bringing her back to all these summers spent there as a child. She'd come to hate this place before she'd been as old as Monica.

  
"Yeah, let's go."

  
Maria drove as Carol gave her half-hearted instructions. Soon, they were driving away from the main town and down a street full of big houses, each different from the last. Maria slowed down, observing each house. Carol was staring straight ahead. Finally, she said:

  
"It's here."

  
Maria stopped on the side of the road, beside a white house with a dirty red roof. There was a little wooden shack on the side. Waves peaked over the horizon. Carol had gone perfectly still. Maria had never seen her so still in the twenty or so years she'd known her. Monica was leaning against her mother's seat, also looking at Carol with concern. Finally, Carol seemed to breathe again.

  
"Can you, hum... wait in the car right now? I'll call you over."

  
"Of course."

  
Carol took another breath, then stepped out of the car. She walked through the dirt road. Her entire being was shaking, and she could feel the energy in her body, like a flow, going up and down, passing through her cells as if it wanted to get out. She'd never been more tempted to run away. Heck, it was the first time in her life she was tempted to run away at all. But she was Carol Danvers, and she never ran away from anything.

  
She knocked on the door and waited. She looked back at the car. Monica had opened the back-door window and was giving her a smile and a thumbs up. Carol managed to smile back, even if she felt all of her muscle fighting against it. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest, and then the next second, she heard the rasp of the door on the ground, and click of the hinges, and her heart stopped completely.

  
She turned around, only to come face to face with an older woman. Blonde like her, with blue eyes instead of brown, and a lot more wrinkles that Carol ever remembered seeing on her mother. Both women stared at each other, neither of them dared to speak. Finally, her mother let out:

  
"Carol?"

  
"Hey, mom. It's been a while..."

  
Her mother didn't say anything. She threw herself at her daughter, hugging her fiercely. She dissolved into tears while holding onto Carol like she was her only anchor in the ocean. Carol was stunned for a moment, before she hugged her mother back, and started crying as well.

* * *

  
  
Once both Carol and her mother had cried enough, Carol had waved Maria and Monica over. Her mother had welcomed them inside. All three adults were seating around the dining room table. Monica had joined them for a moment, but as soon as she'd seen the family cat, Socks, walk down the stairs, she'd gone to play with him.

  
"I don't understand," Carol's mother started, breaking the heavy silence between them. "They told us you died in an experimental plane crash, ten years ago."

  
"Nine," Carol corrected. "And I didn't die. It's very complicated. I went away for six years and when I came back it was just a mess."

  
"Went away? Where?"

  
Carol and Maria exchanged a look, and Carol pursed her lips. She didn't know how much she was allowed to say. Technically she'd never been sworn to secrecy by Fury and the SHIELD, but probably because he knew she wasn't going to run around telling the truth to everyone. But this was her mother. She deserved to know.

  
"I know this is going to sound completely crazy, but I was abducted by a race of fascist aliens who brainwashed me. I had no memory of Earth for almost six years."

  
Carol was completely serious when she looked at her mother. Maria also looked serious, though she perfectly understood when Carol's mother let out an awkward laugh. She'd been in that position too, of hearing Carol saying things that seemed completely crazy.

  
"Carol... Honey... You're not making any sense..."

  
"I know it's very strange, but it's the truth. The plane crash didn't kill me, it gave me superpowers, which is why those aliens took me away."

  
Her mother was at a lost for words. Before she could ask more question, Carol raised her hand for her mother to see. Soon enough, energy crackled between her fingers, and her hand began to glow. Her mother gasped. Carol turned her powers off and waited. There were only two ways this conversation could go now. She waited and waited for her mother to stood up and move away from her, for her to fearfully tell her to leave. Instead, she hesitantly took her hand in hers. Carol's hand was still warm from having used her powers, and her mother's hand felt icy against hers.

  
"You must have gone through so much, but I'm glad you're okay."

  
Carol found herself crying once again. With her free hand, she brushed away her tears.

  
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," she mumbled.

  
"I understand. Things with your father were always so complicated. After we lost Steve, and then you... He was never the same again."

  
"Dad was an asshole," Carol declared.

  
"He would have been proud of you."

  
Carol rolled her eyes. Her father had always been a sexist idiot who always tried to rein her in simply because she was a girl. They'd stopped talking after she'd join the air force and it was better that way.

  
"We both know that's not true."

  
Her mother sighed.

  
"Well, I am proud of you, Carol. I really am."

* * *

  
  
After their heart to heart, the trio was invited to stay for lunch. Carol helped her mother prepare a salad while Maria set the table. Monica had disappeared up into Carol's bedroom, searching through every drawer for cool stuff she could keep for herself.

  
"And then she, what did she say?"

  
"'It's not a real three-pointer if your feet don't touch the ground.'" Maria replied.

  
They were in the middle of telling one of the many stories Carol had to supply about Monica.

  
"So anyway," Carol continued as she finished grating a carrot, and bit into the small piece left in her hand. "I tried again without flying or even jumping so both my feet would be on the ground, right? And the ball hit the end of the hoop so hard, it fell off!"

  
All three women laughed. Carol had to take her breath before she could continue.

  
"And, and the worst part is, she still didn't want to give me my three points!"

  
They heard footsteps coming down the stairs and Monica was leaning against the banister.

  
"Are you telling the story of that time you destroyed the basketball hoop?"

  
"You mean that time I crushed you with my amazing three-pointer."

  
Monica rolled her eyes.

  
"Anyway, I found a pile of old tee-shirts that I thought you'd want back."

  
"Let's check this out."

  
Carol passed the bowl of grated carrots to her mother and cleaned her hands on a nearby dishrag before walking out of the kitchen. She walked past Maria and her fingers grazed her girlfriend's discreetly before she followed Monica up the stairs.

  
"But I'm warning you, Charlie's Angels shirts are mine and will stay mine," she said as she walked up.

  
Both Maria and Carol's mother watched them disappear, then Maria went into the kitchen.

  
"Anything else I can help with?"

  
"Oh, no, thank you. Lunch will be ready soon."

  
Maria nodded and leaned against the counter. She was glad Carol's mother hadn't chased them away, but now she was confronted with a very difficult task at end. Talk to her mother-in-law. Who didn't even know she was her mother-in-law. How Carol had managed to remain cool and collected when her parents were around was a mystery to her.

  
"I'm sorry for springing this on you like that," Maria started, "but since Carol learned about her father she's been meaning to come. I suggested a family trip..."

  
"I'm glad you did," Carol's mother replied. "If Carol is anything like I remember her to be, she would have never come on her own. She's too damn stubborn."

  
Maria smiled.

  
"Can I ask you a question, if it's not too indiscreet?" Carol's mother started.

  
"No, go ahead."

  
Maria could guess what kind of question she was going to ask. Usually, people always asked her the same questions.

  
"Where is Monica's father?"

  
"I haven't seen him in sixteen years. Even I couldn't tell you."

  
Carol's mother had a small understanding smile on her lips.

  
"It must have been hard for you, a young single mother in the military. You're very brave."

  
"Thank you, but really, I had a lot of help. My parents were there for me, and Carol of course. She has been there for both of us, even before Monica was born. Before the accident, and then almost as soon as she came home. Those six years without her were the hardest."

  
Carol's mother nodded.

  
"Yes, I remember when Joe left for the war. The first few months were the hardest, but I always knew he would come back to me. I'm sure you never doubted Carol would come back to you too."

  
Maria frowned. Was she so used to people implying things that she'd started reading into things too much, or was Carol's mother a lot more perceptive than they'd assumed?

  
"Mrs. Danvers..."

  
"Please, call me Marie. We're almost family after all."

  
Maria was stunned for a moment. Yes, she definitely knew. Carol's mother smiled.

  
"You think I haven't noticed how you look at each other?"

  
"Is that what gave it away? The looks?"

  
"She looks at you like you are her entire universe. And you look at her as like she's your sun."

  
Maria couldn't contain her smile.

  
"Sometimes it feels like it."

  
"You two have been raising a wonderful daughter together. She talks about Monica like her father used to talk about Steve. I would really need to be blind not to see all these things."

  
Carol's mother went to check the chicken in the oven.

  
"So you're okay with it?"

  
"I just had my daughter back, and I found out she has been living a full happy life. I don't want to lose her again, because I know if she had to choose between the two of us, she would pick you every time."

  
Maria was silent for a moment, reflecting on what Carol's mother had just said. Carol hadn't always chosen her. Sometimes, she'd chosen her duty to others. However, she'd returned to her every time, and that was the difference.

  
"Hey! Maria!"

  
Carol came running down the stairs, wearing an old Charlie's Angel shirt over her tank top.

  
"I knew I still had it somewhere! And it still fits!"

  
Both Maria and her mother shook their heads.

  
"You should take it off before lunch, honey, if you don't want to stain it."

  
"Hum, excuse me, I'm an adult, I can eat chicken properly."

  
"Take the shirt off, Carol," Maria declared.

  
Carol pouted, but finally, she pulled it off and walked back up to place it on the pile of shirts she was probably going to bring back with her.

  
"See, what did I tell you," Carol's mom said. "She'll pick you every time."

  
They both chuckled at that.


End file.
